System for energy efficient computer management environment via tightly integrated target status and directed work sessions

• US 8,352,623 B2
• Filed: 09/17/2008
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cherry, Gene Wayne, Lazzaro, Christopher Victor, Ranjan, Dasgupta
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mejia, Anthony
• Application Number:
  US12/212,295
• Publication Number:
  US 20100070661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,574 Days
• Field of Search: 709/200, 709/206, 709/230, 710/19
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0805 by checking availability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/10 Streamlined, light-weight or high-speed protocols, e.g. express transfer protocol [XTP] or byte stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/00 Reducing energy consumption in communication networks

Abstract

A method and system for providing an energy efficient computer management environment via tightly integrated target status and directed work sessions. The illustrative embodiments query, by a lightweight communication means, an availability status of a target computer device using a status thread. The status of the target computer device is recorded in a memory of a central computer according to response from the server thread. Responsive to an absence of a response by the target computer, the illustrative embodiments query, by a heavyweight communication means, the status of the target computer device using the status thread.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for managing a computer environment in an energy efficient manner, the computer implemented method comprising:

querying, through a lightweight communication protocol, an availability status of a target computer device using a status thread;

recording the availability status of the target computer device in a memory of a central computer according to a response from the status thread; and

responsive to an absence of a response by the target computer, querying, through a heavyweight communication protocol, the status of the target computer device using the status thread;

responsive to a first determination that work needs to be performed on the target computer device by one or more work threads, adjusting a priority level of the status thread to a level secondary to the one or more work threads and checking a status flag associated with the target computer device to determine if the status flag indicates the target computer device is responsive; and

responsive to a second determination that the status flag indicates that the target computer device is responsive, establishing a heavyweight communication with the target computer device to perform the work on the target computer device.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the lightweight communications protocol is User Datagram Protocol, and wherein the heavyweight communications protocol is Transmission Control Protocol.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responding, by the target computer device, to the query by the lightweight communication protocol or the heavyweight communication protocol in a configurable manner.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to a third determination that a load on the central computer falls below a threshold, adjusting the priority level of the status thread to a primary priority level.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein recording the status of the target computer device further comprises:

modifying the status flag associated with the target computer device in the memory of the central computer to indicate the target computer is currently responsive.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to a determination that the status flag indicates that the target computer device is not responsive, delaying establishing a heavyweight communication with the target computer device to perform the work on the target computer device until a recheck of the status flag indicates that the target computer device is responsive.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the lightweight communication protocol is a first protocol in which an acknowledgement packet is not generated in response to a successfully transmitted packet, and wherein the heavyweight communication protocol is a second protocol in which the acknowledgment packet is generated in response to the successfully transmitted packet.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the priority level of the status thread to the priority level secondary to the one or more work threads comprises:

locking a mutex for the one or more work threads; and

suspending the status thread until the mutex is unlocked.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the priority level of the status thread to the priority level secondary to the one or more work threads comprises:

increasing an amount of time between invocations of the status thread by increasing a time variable for the status thread.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein responding, by the target computer device, to the query by the lightweight communication protocol or the heavyweight communication protocol in a configurable manner comprises:

responsive to receiving a query for the availability status of the target computer device, performing a diagnostic test to form results;

performing self-healing on the target computer device using the results; and

sending the results to the central computer.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the work needs to be performed on the target computer device by the one or more work threads, wherein the work comprises a service to be provided to the target computer device.

12. A data processing system for managing a computer environment in an energy efficient manner, the data processing system comprising:

a bus;

a storage device connected to the bus, wherein the storage device contains computer usable code;

at least one managed device connected to the bus;

a communications unit connected to the bus; and

a processing unit connected to the bus, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable code to query, through a lightweight communication protocol, an availability status of a target computer device using a status thread;

record the availability status of the target computer device in a memory of a central computer according to a response from the status thread;

query, in response to an absence of a response by the target computer, the status of the target computer device through a heavyweight communication protocol using the status thread;

responsive to a first determination that work needs to be performed on the target computer device by one or more work threads, adjust a priority level of the status thread to a priority level secondary to the one or more work threads and check a status flag associated with the target computer device to determine if the status flag indicates the target computer device is responsive; and

responsive to a second determination that the status flag indicates that the target computer device is responsive, establish a heavyweight communication with the target computer device to perform the work on the target computer device.

13. A computer program product for managing a computer environment in an energy efficient manner, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code tangibly embodied thereon, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code for querying, through a lightweight communication protocol, an availability status of a target computer device using a status thread;

computer usable program code for recording the availability status of the target computer device in a memory of a central computer according to a response from the status thread; and

computer usable program code for querying, in response to an absence of a response by the target computer, the status of the target computer device through a heavyweight communication protocol using the status thread;

computer usable program code, responsive to a first determination that work needs to be performed on the target computer device by the one or more work threads, for adjusting a priority level of the status thread to a priority level secondary to one or more work threads and checking a status flag associated with the target computer device to determine if the status flag indicates the target computer device is responsive; and

computer usable program code, responsive to a second determination that the status flag indicates that the target computer device is responsive, for establishing a heavyweight communication with the target computer device to perform the work on the target computer device.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the lightweight communications protocol is User Datagram Protocol, and wherein the heavyweight communications protocol is Transmission Control Protocol.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer usable program code for responding, by the target computer device, to the query by the lightweight communication protocol or the heavyweight communication protocol in a configurable manner.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer usable program code for adjusting, in response to a determination that a load on the central computer falls below a threshold, the priority level of the status thread to a primary priority level.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer usable program code for delaying establishing, in response to a determination that the status flag indicates that the target computer device is not responsive, a heavyweight communication with the target computer device to perform the work on the target computer device until a recheck of the status flag indicates that the target computer device is responsive.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer usable program code is stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of a data processing system, and wherein the computer usable program code is downloaded over a network from a remote data processing system.

19. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer usable program code is stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of a server data processing system, and wherein the computer usable program code is downloaded over a network from a non-transitory computer readable storage medium of a remote data processing system to use with the remote data processing system.